Nixon Recommends

Nixon*Mart - Needs More Nixon!

One of the things I find most fascinating about political strategy is it's apparent paradoxical nature. In almost every case, the more transparently mendacious, outrageously slanderous, and obviously patronizing a political accusation or statement is, the more likely it will be accepted by the orthogonians as being honest and sincere. I've always intuitively known that and my instinct was confirmed in my first campaign back in 1946 agasint incumbent John Voorhis, in which I blatantly lied about his communist sympathies. The more extreme my accusations were, the more the voters believed them. Needless to say, I won.

So, when I see as utterly ridiculous a stunt as the new tea-people in congress opening the session by reading the constitution, I have to applaud. This is something even the most depraved Hollywood PR agent couldn't have dreamed up. It's elegance lies in it's simplicity. On the surface, it seems innocent enough. What could be more American than starting congress by reading the seminal document in American history?

And therein lies the pearl of aggressive genius. By not only reading the constitution, but making it clear that it's never been done before in the entire history of the US government, it politicizes the act and allows the tea people to claim ownership of the constitution. And so, ispo facto, they must be the only ones who are dedicated to it and to protecting America's freedoms and liberty. The implication is clear: if the left truly believed in and supported the constitution, they would have done this a long time ago. But they didn't. Why? The answer is obvious. The left must consist of anti-American barbarians dedicated to overthrowing our freedoms. After all, the devil doesn't read the bible.

The problem for the tea-people who want to adhere to a strict interpretation of the constitution is twofold. First, there are the embarrassing little bits and pieces such as Article 1, section 2 and a few other not-very-flattering parts. Secondly, they also run the risk that reading the constitution in full may begin to awaken some curiosity in the minds of the public and spark the realization that some of their stated positions may not adhere to the spirit of the document (particularly in regards to application of the 1st, 4th, 8th, 11th, 14th, and 16th amendments). However, it's a pretty safe bet for the tea people that most Americans won't see through this clumsy stunt. The Great Silent Majority out there is far more interested in the sizzle than the steak. Packaging, illusion, style over substance, hype - whatever you want to call it, the rubes in the heartland are persuaded by perception rather than reality, and by and large they are far too drunk or lazy to actually try and figure something out for themselves. In that way the orthogonians are quite passive and will rarely question whether a pig is wearing lipstick or that someone is pissing on their shoes while calling it sweet summer rain.